If the measure were to pass the Senate, however, President Obama has said he would veto any legislation that defunds Planned Parenthood.
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Staffers from the state Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General descended on Planned Parenthood offices in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas.
Planned Parenthood has been subject to controversy ever since a video released this summer showing Planned Parenthood employees discussing providing tissue and organs from aborted fetuses to medical researchers. Not only this, the state health department investigators paid an unannounced visit at many Planned Parenthood health centers and asked for their documents.
Ken Lambrecht of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, said the organization faces “unprecedented and unnecessary” requests from state officials, including thousands of pages of documents, medical record storage locations and “the home addresses of each and every one of our employees”.
Planned Parenthood, however, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and forensic analysts who have reviewed the videos say they appear to have been so deceptively crafted that they “do not represent a complete or accurate record of the events they purport to depict”. It is barred by federal law from using that money to pay for abortions.
Perhaps it’s because Planned Parenthood is a very generous contributor to Democratic candidates running for the Maine Legislature, giving close to $1 million to help them get elected in 2014 alone.
“Many longtime supporters of Planned Parenthood are not only shocked by what’s been revealed, but also by Planned Parenthood’s arrogant response”.
A member of University Democrats started a petition calling for Texans to stand with Planned Parenthood in response to the program’s removal from the state’s Medicaid program.
The act is a budget reconciliation bill that temporarily blocks any mandatory funding of abortion providers while the House continues to investigate Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Republicans rammed legislation through the House on Friday that would demolish major pillars of President Barack Obama’s health care law and halt Planned Parenthood’s federal payments. It won’t be over until and unless the agency issues a “final notice of termination” – after Planned Parenthood has officially responded and the state has put together whatever evidence it can find.
According to The Hill, three other Republican senators have voiced concerns about defunding Planned Parenthood. Because of that, many Republican lawmakers say they can’t use the reconciliation procedure to try to kill Obamacare in its entirety. Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast was to turn over a complete copy of certain patients’ records, including doctors’ orders, nursing notes and lab tests, as well as the center’s appointment books, patient sign-in sheets and contracts. The inspector general also said the state had “reliable information indicating a pattern of illegal billing practices by Planned Parenthood affiliates” across Texas. This month, the group announced it would decline any reimbursement for expenses related to fetal tissue donation to dispel the notion it has any financial interest in such research.
States That Have Attempted To Remove Planned Parenthood From Medicaid Rolls Have Been Stopped By Courts.
At present, federally qualified health centers serve nearly 23 million people per year, while Planned Parenthood serves under three million, Donovan said.
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Yet, those videos were later found to be heavily edited. The organization has announced that it would no longer accept any compensation for fetal tissue from harvesters.
